Cesar Espinosa, executive director at FIEL Houston, discusses the case of Guatemalan immigrant Carlos Gudiel who was arrested on January 19th in the parking lot of his Houston apartment complex. He said it is the latest example of what appears to be an increasingly common practice to target predominantly Hispanic apartment complexes early in the morning on the pretext of looking for specific suspects, then questioning bystanders without any evidence that they are illegally here.

Cesar Espinosa, executive director at FIEL Houston, discusses the case of Guatemalan immigrant Carlos Gudiel who was arrested on January 19th in the parking lot of his Houston apartment complex. He said it is ... more

Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle

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Justin Andres, 6, listens to journalists ask questions to his mother about his father's detention for being here illegally and having a prior deportation order.

Justin Andres, 6, listens to journalists ask questions to his mother about his father's detention for being here illegally and having a prior deportation order.

Photo: Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle

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Carlos Gudiel and his five-months-old daughter Brihana Andres. Photo provided by the family.

Carlos Gudiel and his five-months-old daughter Brihana Andres. Photo provided by the family.

Photo: Photo Provided By The Family.

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Immigration agents arrest Houston father of five on his way to work

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The call came soon after Carlos Gudiel Andres kissed his wife and five children goodbye, walking out into the early-morning darkness to load his tools onto his truck.

"Immigration has me," he told his wife, asking her to send their oldest son Erick to retrieve his wallet. "Don't come yourself or they will get you too."

The advocacy group FIEL Houston said Friday that it was the latest example of what it said appears to be an increasingly common federal practice to target predominantly Hispanic apartment complexes early in the morning on the pretext of looking for specific suspects, then questioning bystanders without any evidence that they are illegally here.

"They pretend like they are looking for someone and then they just start asking people at random," said Cesar Espinosa, the group's executive director. "What we are looking at is that very fine line between enforcement and racial profiling."

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A doctor who has lived in the US for almost 40 years has been arrested and threatened with deportation over minor offences he committed as a teenager.
Polish national Lukasz Niec was living in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on a permanent green card with his wife and two daughters when immigration agents stormed into his home last week and took him into custody.
His detention stems from two minor crimes he committed as a 17-year-old: destruction of property worth less than $100, and receiving and concealing stolen goods.
At the time, he pleaded guilty to both charges and avoided a criminal record under a US law that protects young first-offenders if they never offend again.
But US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) does not recognise such plea agreements.
“These misdemeanors were just an adolescent making mistakes and learning from them,” Niec’s sister Iwona Niec-Villaire told Wood TV8 on Saturday.
Niec was five years old when he and his family left Poland in search of a better life. They moved to the US in 1979.
The AGE currently awaits his fate in a jail cell in Calhoun County.
Speaking through tears, Iwona said: “The question I get all the time is ‘why do you think this happened?’ and I just really don’t know.
“He doesn’t even speak polish.”
Crackdowns on illegal immigrants have increased under US President Donald Trump, whose administration takes a hardline stance on immigration.
Bronson Methodist Hospital, where Niec worked, said it was closely monitoring the situation and doing everything it could to advocate for the doctor.
“Since 2007, Dr. Niec has been a skilled and caring physician, a valued employee and respected member of the Bronson medical staff,” the hospital said in a statement.
In a statement to NBC, an ICE spokesperson said of Niec: “He most recently came under agency scrutiny as a result of 18 encounters with local law enforcement. He will remain in ICE custody pending the outcome of removal proceedings.
“ICE does not exempt classes or categories of removable aliens from potential enforcement. All of those in violation of the immigration laws may be subject to immigration arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removal from the United States.”
Euronews has also reached out to the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment.

Media: Euronews

In a statement, Leticia Zamarripa, a spokeswoman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said the agency often encounters immigrants here illegally while performing "targeted enforcement operations." They are evaluated on a "case-by-case basis, and, when appropriate, they are arrested."

She said that while immigration agents focus on those who pose a threat to public safety, anyone here illegally is subject to deportation if they are discovered.

In this latest case, Andres was packing his tools into his truck at about 6:30 a.m. in the Bel-Lindo apartments in southwest Houston on Jan. 19.

Zamarripa said the parking lot was "identified as part of a targeted enforcement operation," but didn't provide details as to why.

Andres, who is 30, told his wife that federal agents flashed a light in his face and asked if the tools were his, "as if he was stealing them," she said. They asked if he knew the occupants of a nearby apartment, saying they had received complaints that immigrants here illegally were living there.

When Andres said he did not, the agents demanded his identification and discovered he had no permission to work here and a deportation order from more than a decade ago. They arrested him, and asked where his wife lived, but he declined to say.

The deportation order appears to stem from a mix-up, Espinosa said.

Andres, who is from Guatemala, was detained after crossing the Rio Grande in December 2005.

He was deported 20 days later on Dec. 30, according to Zamarripa, the agency spokeswoman. She said he re-entered the country illegally two months later, which is a felony, although he wasn't apprehended at that time.

But Espinosa said an immigration judge proceeding over Andres' initial deportation case issued him a removal order in absentia. He had missed the court date only because he had already been deported, Espinosa said, not through any fault of his own.

He said Andres' lawyer, Jorge Cantu, was seeking to re-open that case arguing that the judgement occurred in error. Cantu did not immediately return a phone call. Andres remains in the Joe Corley Detention Facility in Conroe.

He has no other criminal record, and has never even received a traffic ticket, his wife said.

"The thing we want to highlight is that when immigration agents had the interaction with (Andres,) there was no way for them to know what his status was," Espinosa said. "Are they questioning everybody? Or are they just questioning workers with tools early in the morning?"

He said the organization had received at least six calls about similar incidents and reminded immigrants that they do not have to answer questions about their citizenship status.

They also do not have to let immigration agents into their home unless they have a warrant issued by a judge.

"If they do not, they do not have to let them in and may politely decline," said Andre Segura, legal director for the ACLU of Texas. "If the agents enter without a warrant and without consent, which often happens, the individuals inside still have the right to remain silent."

Andres' wife, Marcela Rivera, said the family is struggling. Andres, a carpenter, worked while she stayed home with their infant daughter.

Now she is relying on her family for financial support to care for her five American-born children.Her 6-year-old son wakes up in the middle of the night and cries for his dad. Erick, who is in the 8th grade, said he is distracted at school and doesn't sleep well.